News Article

Accell Group Goes India

LUDHIANA, India – International bicycle brands are discovering India. More and more iconic foreign brands see the potential of the Indian markets as its economy grows. Ludhiana-based Suncross Bikes recently announced a deal with Accell’s Winora Group for the distribution of Haibike bikes and XLC components in India.

“We plan to sell 15,000 to 20,000 units on the India market annually,” said Rajesh Kalra, CEO, Suncross Bikes at the Winora Group headquarters in Schweinfurt, Germany. “Demand for branded and high-end bikes is increasing constantly and leading bike brands from Europe and the US are entering India because it is a vast market with very high potential. Therefore we have ordered Haibike’s 2015 range for distribution on the India market.”

Ghost Bikes and Lapierre

Suncross Bikes is already selling three other Accell Group brands in India. “Market response has been encouraging”, Kalra adds. “We launched Ghost Bikes and Lapierre recently and we have also licensed the brand name Raleigh for production in India. We have already introduced Ghost and Lapierre brands and dealer response is encouraging. We have several orders in pipeline for the 2015 range.”

Only distributor for Accell

The agreement with Winora makes Suncross Bikes the largest distributor of leading bike brands in India and the only distributor handling four Accell Group brands. The company also represents Upland from China/USA and Rock-Machine from Czech Republic.

India’s high-end bike market is still in its infancy. It represents only an estimated 2 – 4% of a total market between 13.5 and 14.5 million units. The market growth for high-end bikes and accessories for cycling is increasing at almost 20% year on year. Suncross sold 80,000 units last year in India.